Global clinical trials next big sector after IT in India

NEW DELHI: India will soon emerge as an important hub for global clinical trials that will generate more revenues than the Information Technology industry by 2010, an expert has said.

"India is going to be one of the major hubs for clinical trials in the next five to seven years," Dr. Krishna M. Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech said.

"I believe that by 2010, the revenue of clinical trials may surpass even software industry of India," Ella said adding multinational companies like Aventis, Pfizer and Novartis have already moved the clinical trials to India.

"Almost 70 percent of the hospitals in India are privately owned and most of the doctors are trained in the U.S. and the U.K. Since they have English-language capability, they can understand the protocol and Good Clinical Practices (GCP) issues. This is a very significant factor for the clinical trials," Ella said.